Trace amounts of anthrax found in Capitol Hill offices of 11 senators over weekend

Posted: Tuesday, November 13, 2001

By Alan FramAssociated Press

WASHINGTON -- Trace amounts of anthrax have been found in the offices of three more senators, bringing to 11 the number of senators' suites found in recent days to be contaminated.

The most recent discoveries were in the offices of Sens. Richard Lugar, R-Ind.; Barbara Boxer, D-Calif.; and Jon Corzine, D-N.J. All 11 are in the Hart Senate office building, where an anthrax-filled letter was opened Oct. 15.

Aides to all three senators were notified of the discoveries Sunday evening and were told that no health risk is involved, officials said Monday.

Over the weekend, officials said anthrax spores were found in the offices of eight other senators who work in that building.

Capitol Police spokesman Lt. Dan Nichols said the latest findings were not unexpected. Police believe letters delivered to other offices in the Hart building may have been contaminated by the anthrax-filled letter sent to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D.

But Nichols also said that with the investigation still under way, ''we have not ruled out the possibility of another piece of mail'' containing anthrax.

Though officials say only small amounts of anthrax are involved, the growing number of spots where the potentially deadly bacteria have been found could complicate the decontamination of the nine-story building. Fifty of the Senate's 100 members have offices in the building, which has been closed since two days after the Daschle letter was received.

Dr. John Eisold, the Capitol physician, said the trace amounts of anthrax pose no health risk and no further testing or treatment is necessary for office workers or visitors.

Baucus spokesman Michael Siegel said, ''We are extremely grateful for the quick action of Capitol Police and health officials.'' Siegel said all of Baucus' staff have remained on the course of antibiotics that they began taking when the letter was first discovered in Daschle's office.

Specter spokesman Bill Reynolds said: ''We haven't been in the office since the initial closure. Everybody's been tested, some are on antibiotics and some aren't. But we're fine.''

Spores were also reported Saturday in the offices of Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, D-Md., in the Longworth House office building.

Also Saturday, the Postal Service moved mail-processing operations from its Brentwood facility to a location on V Street in northeast Washington.

Officials discovered the Brentwood facility -- which processed the Daschle letter -- is so badly contaminated that it will probably take months to remove the anthrax. Two mail handlers at Brentwood died from inhaling anthrax.